Professor Paul van der Lem
BS, ATD, DgDes, PhD, FCSD, FRSA
Faculty of Art, Media and Design. University of the West of England, Bristol.
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Paul van der Lem studied Fine Art and Graphic Design in The Hague and Rotterdam from 1962 to 1969 and graduated with distinction. He also read Philosophy and Organisation of Education at the University of Amsterdam and obtained a degree in Social Psychology from the University of the State of New York. His Doctorate was awarded in 1985 at Leicester in the UK for a study on higher education for Graphic Design. He has obtained several professional fellowships in the Netherlands, the UK and the USA. In the UK he was appointed full Professor and he is a regular visiting Professor in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Paul worked for ten years full-time in visualisation and design for publishing and the audiovisual industry. His professional practice started in the Netherlands but soon extended to the international markets of Europe, USA and Australia. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held in Rotterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague, as well as in Bologna, Oslo, Oxford, London, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Sydney. In 1977 he became Principal Lecturer and MA course leader in Information Design at Leicester, and in 1983 succeeded FHK Henrion as Head of Design at the London College of Printing. The Deanship in Bristol followed in 1989, a post held for ten years. Paul van der Lem has established two research centres in Bristol, one for Fine Print and the other for Digital Media. In January 2000 he stepped down as Dean, to allow more time for research and international educational development. UWE, Bristol is one of the larger Universities in the UK with 24,000 students. Its study programme for Art and Design at Bristol was established in 1853 by one of the two Royal Academies for the visual arts in England. Annual enrolment for the Faculty is now 1200 students. The taught courses are for Bachelor and Master Degrees and a range of short professional updating programmes. Over the last ten years a substantial portfolio of externally funded research projects has been created. Postdoctoral research at the Faculty generates a framework of research training for PhD degrees in Art, Media and Design.